


you grow up when i'm not looking / we grow apart without knowing

by radiowrittenheart



Series: spread your wings, my little butterfly [3]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Bittersweet, Crying, Family Feels, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, LET STAR AND MOON HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP 2K17, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Oneshot, Post-Season/Series 02, Protective Parents, i had so many feelings after Starcrushed send help, it's gonna be okay you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10026725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiowrittenheart/pseuds/radiowrittenheart
Summary: One last night for the Butterfly family before the past comes back to haunt them, and the present is paused for only a little while, while the future is undetermined. (Alternatively, Star and Moon spend a night making up for lost time.)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loveandwar007](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandwar007/gifts).



> DARON NEFCY THREW MY FEELINGS INTO A BLENDER  
> OHMYGOD THAT FINALE I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS AND I JUST WANT EVERYONE IN THIS SHOW TO BE OKAY????
> 
> also i wanna thank loveandwar007 for being my cheerleader/partner in crime she's awesome (also it was her birthday a while ago but i don't know when so this counts as a late gift i guess??? idk)
> 
> title is a lyric from "portugal" by walk the moon

The portal warped into the grand throne room of the Butterfly castle. Twinkles of magic chimed for a few instants before dissolving on the floor, under the feet of the queen and princess. There was a moment’s silence, but not completely so.

Moon stood still, trying to catch her breath, and behind her, Star was shaking in place, sniffling.

“Do you want to talk about something?”

“No. N-no, I’m good,”

It was a brief, almost blunt exchange.

“Star,” Moon stopped, and let out a sigh. What could she say, after dragging her daughter away from a new home? After such a bold declaration of what they had to face? “Just … go get washed up and head to bed. Your room is just as you left it. We’ll discuss things in the morning,”

Star didn’t even reply, all Moon could hear was the rushing retreat of her daughter running from the room, a heavy door slamming behind her.

In typical teenage girl fashion. Of course.

Moon wasn’t sure of the exact hour, just that it was late. She began to creep out of the throne room, opposite exit her daughter had taken— only to notice a shadow in the darkness and immediately jump.

“Moon! Oh, for goodness’ sake, it’s me!” a very, very familiar voice boomed in the hall.

Placing a hand over her heart, Moon sighed. “River,” she muttered. She paused, then squinted to notice that her husband was not looking too happy. “Are you alright, dear? You seem upset. Did something else happen while I was gone?”

River groaned, rubbing his temples. “No,” he retorted. “The whole reason I’m upset is _because_ you were gone!”

A frown crossed Moon’s expression. “I had to do what was necessary,” Her answer was simple, accentuated with a shrug. “Star is home, the High Commission are being treated in the infirmary… I would say we’re off to a good start.”

“And what was necessary, Moon?” the king groaned. “Yes, yes, I know the whole debacle with the spellbook and whatnot, but that’s no excuse to just up and leave! I saw your armor gone and assumed you went off to war or something, galavanting through the Forest of Certain Death as if you were still a princess!”

“Toffee!” Moon shot back. Fighting with her husband was not completely elusive, but certainly unexpected. This was not what she needed right now, but couldn’t help it, letting her emotions take control. “Toffee is back, River! So I apologize if I didn’t leave a note or say goodbye this time! It wasn’t as if all of our lives were at stake!”

She heaved out a breath, adjusting her tilted tiara.

“I … I’m sorry, River,” she muttered. “I didn’t want to yell,”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” he said, completely disregarding her apology. “Moon, _i-it can’t be,_ ”

She nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid so,”

River sighed, running his hands across his face. “I can’t believe it,” he grumbled. “And, I apologize too, dear. I didn’t mean to get angry with you,” He noticed he was blubbering just a tad, probably making a complete fool of himself in front of his bold, brave wife. “I was terrified, Moon, I had no idea what you were up against. Don’t _ever_ do that again, especially without telling me.”

Moon frowned. “I know, darling,” she murmured, leaning down to place a kiss on his forehead. “But it wasn’t exactly something I could plan.”

River grumbled for a few minutes, before lunging forward and embracing his queen, sighing. “I know, I know,” he mumbled. “I just worry too much. It’s becoming a problem, isn’t it?” He didn’t hear her laugh, but he certainly felt it vibrate from her chest and he groaned. “Don’t answer that.”

They stood there a moment, embraced, holding on to each other as if it had been years apart rather than just a few hours.

“I love you,” Moon finally blurted out. “I don’t mean to make you worry.”

“I love you as well,” River replied.

He stood on his tiptoes and she leaned down just a little bit for their lips to meet halfway in a chaste kiss. Moon gave a small smile, gently cradling her husband's face in her hands.

“I’ll meet you upstairs in a bit,” she said softly. “I’ve got to get out of this mess,” Her armor creaked and clanked, her dress was torn in various places and familiar signs of a fight were marked all over her face and body. Dirt, scrapes, the tingle of magic in her veins… “River? I’ll be fine.”

“You always say that, Moon,” he replied, with a small shake of his head.

She rolled her eyes, almost playfully so. “Would you feel better if I invited you on the next grand fight to save the world from evil? Make it a Butterfly family bonding activity of sorts?”

River nodded. “Yes!” he practically blurted out. “At the very least, it would help my blood pressure!”

Sadness wavered in Moon’s tiny grin. “I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “ _We_ will be fine. You trust me, don’t you?”

For a few instants, the king fumbled over his words—  perhaps in an attempt to argue with his wife. But he fell flat with any sort of rebuttal, shaking his head in defeat. “Of course I trust you,” he admitted. “With my life, and I absolutely love how brave you are, but… aren’t you getting a little old for this, darling?”

Moon’s bittersweet smile turned into a frown. “River, we aren’t even forty yet,” she argued.

“But you have a kingdom to run, a daughter to raise! Do you want Star to become queen before she’s even an adult?” River retorted. “I — _I_ don’t want to lose you.”

He sounded helpless, lost, and held onto her hands almost with all of his strength, kissing her knuckles, worn from years of fighting. The least graceful part of her.

“Moon, please,” he pleaded. “Just think before you go off like that again. This is far more dangerous than last time.”

Last time. The last time she had gone off like that was almost the last time they had seen each other. But she was Moon the Undaunted, and she fully lived up to her title. Mewni’s bravest, boldest queen, a rival to any of her predecessors, even those who may have been war heroes or legendary leaders— there was just something about Queen Moon that was irreplaceable.

And now, the dauntless queen had never felt so vulnerable as she did now, when she saw her husband, (her king, her sidekick and partner-in-crime) but most importantly, her best friend become so worried for her well-being.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Moon whispered. “I would never leave you like that.”

All River could do was nod in defeat, gently squeezing his wife’s hands before letting go and leaving the hall down to where their bedroom chambers were.

And there Moon stood, alone, basking in the spotlight of her namesake.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Star couldn’t sleep. She felt like a stranger in her own home; the royal silken comforters were too fluffy, the windows were too big, too extravagant, and it felt … lonely. How ironic it was, a place she had been her whole life feeling more foreign than the place she had resided in for only a few months. Despite the hour, be it late night or early morning, Star found sleep to be elusive. She hugged one of her ridiculously oversized pillows, curled up on her side and finding it impossible to do anything other than just lay there and succumb to everything that was going on.

Her room was too big, too lonely, too stuffy. She let out a noise of pure exasperation, chucking the pillow away as hard as she could, letting it flop somewhere on the floor.

There was a moment of painful silence, and Star groaned again, running her hands through her long blonde hair. She was so used to someone calling for her at this point, or getting to cuddle with the laser puppies who would attempt to destroy her vision but regardless. There was even the scarce night she would sneak out, walk around Echo Creek…

...but this wasn’t Echo Creek. This was Mewni. They were both home to her, but she did not feel welcome here.

She wouldn’t feel welcome back there either, now.

“Stupid,” Star breathed out, coughing the statement rather than saying it. “Stupid, _stupid, stupid_!”

If she hadn’t said anything to Marco— if she had just chose a normal, boring song for Song Day— if she wasn’t so destructive and rebellious—

Fists tugging at her hair, Star began to feel the sting, and she pulled away. Her breaths came out quick, labored, like she had just run a marathon. Losing her book of spells, her best friend, her second home… _Princess Star the Rebel, more like Princess Star the Screw-up_ , she thought bitterly. She screamed out of pure frustration once more, beginning to grab the rest of her stupid, fancy royal pillows and throw them across her stupid, fancy royal bedroom.

She didn’t even want to be a princess anymore, not after all this.

What would be next? An interdimensional war? Her parents not giving her anymore choices for the rest of her life? Maybe having to be Queen sooner than expected?

Star let out one last scream as the last pillow flew through the air, smacking the grand stain glass window just by her intricate canopy bed. She sighed out a heavy breath, ruffling her hair and sniffling away whatever tears were left after her fit. It was a clear night, she noted. All four of Mewni’s moons glowed behind the clouds like spotlights— Earth only had one moon. Star thought that was boring, actually. A few stars peeked out, but didn’t shimmer like they should have.

A heavy breath escaped her, and she crawled across her bed, flipping the latch of her window. It didn’t even creak as she pushed open the window, shuffling onto the roof.

She could use a clear night to think all by herself…

...however, it took Star a moment to realize she wouldn’t be alone. She noticed a familiar figure hunched over, and, oh- _no_ , she hoped that it wasn’t crying she heard—

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Moon couldn’t bring herself to stay inside the castle any longer. Too many pressures and worries. But where else could she go? There weren’t too many places in Mewni for the Queen to take refuge, even for a little while to escape. So for now, she was left with nothing but herself and the blissful peace of the evening. A modest escape, from the chaotic storm about to unleash.

She had no thoughts now, feeling as if she was all out of tears. Her mind was blank, like most patches of the sky were right now. She noticed that it just wasn’t as bright as usual tonight—

“You like to come out on the roof and think too?”

Moon nearly fell off of the roof when she heard the familiar voice, lost of it’s perk and energy, but still very bright even in this dark time. “Star,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Shuffling out the window and gently crawling across the shingles to meet her mother, Star shook her head.

“Can’t stay asleep,” she admitted. “Um, what about you?”

“I’m afraid I could say the same,” the queen admitted.

Star nodded weakly, pulling her knees to her chest and sitting there in silence. She swallowed hard, trying to not let her mother hear her sniffles. She couldn’t— not when she was the reason for this whole mess. Well, not entirely, she knew that. This whole thing, this mess, was like a galaxy, one thing inside of another thing, and various specks, little scandals, here and there.

But Star knew she was a part of this most recent incident....

“Mom?”

Moon hummed, then arched an eyebrow at her daughter. “Yes?”

“What’s Toffee’s problem?” Star blurted out — not taking note of her mother suddenly becoming alarmed, eyes wide, jaw about to drop. “What does he want with us? Why did you zap his finger off with the wand? I mean, I know some monsters don’t like us, but he’s bad. Like, really, really bad.” Her blue eyes were worn with exhaustion and rimmed red from crying. “What’s going on?”

A few crickets down below in the grand castle gardens, almost comically so. Moon didn’t falter in the slightest, unmoving, unresponsive.

“Mom,” Star pressed. “Please, if you’re going to have me involved with this, tell me what this is about. And not just the main issue, like, everything. I wanna know what I’m up against.”

Moon bit her lip, mulling over all of the various answers she could give. She tried to weave answers together, something that would seem glorious and proud (but actually have a pathetic meaning), but her train of thought was interrupted by her daughter going on, and on, and on—

“I mean, I personally know Toffee is crazy! He kidnapped Marco, he tried to destroy the wand!” she said, waving her hands as she talked. “He grew back his entire arm! That was _really_ weird! A-and he never even told me what he wanted—”

“Star,” Moon said, trying to speak over her daughter, just like not too long ago this evening.

But just like before, Star ignored her mother, continuing with her rant: “And then you pick me up out of nowhere, when you never even call me to say hi, just to tell me what to do and how to act! You tell me I gotta leave Earth, which is my favorite dimension, aside from Mewni! And even Mewni doesn’t feel like home anymore! Nothing does!” She refused to look at her mother throughout this whole thing, her baby blue eyes screwed shut in frustration.

“ _Star!_ ” Moon practically shrieked.

“ _What?!_ ” Star hollered back, now turning her face away. “What are you going to tell me, Mom?! That it’s not my fault?! When it actually is, because if I didn’t lose the spellbook o-or tell all of Mewni what I did, we wouldn’t be in this mess! I know it’s my fault, and **_I’m sorry!_ ** I’m sorry I couldn’t be that daughter you always wanted and if Saint O’s was still a thing, I deserve to be hauled off there! Heck, you should just cast me out of Mewni for what I did!”

Moon gasped, catching a glimpse of how truly broken and upset her daughter was. She hesitantly reached out, in attempts to comfort her daughter, but Star rejected it, scooting away and keeping her head down. Her cries was one of the most heart-wrenching sounds Moon had ever heard…

“I never wanted a perfect daughter,” Moon spoke up. “I just wanted you.”

“Yeah, right,” Star grumbled.

“Star,” Moon repeated her daughter’s name, with much sincerity and toning down the volume. “This is not your fault. This is hundreds of years of Butterfly history, rooted deep in our family. We have always had problems with monsters, before Eclipsa’s escape, especially after all of the monsters Solaria killed in cold blood, a-and even I have made my mistakes. You … you just happened to be caught in the midst of it,” She sighed, shaking her head “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I never warned you.”

Star groaned, covering her ears to flat out ignore her mother. This was not what she wanted— she was downright tempted to crawl back inside and go hide somewhere else, maybe in her father’s study or the library, just anywhere else.

She frowned when her mother carefully tried to pry one of the hands away, and Moon frowned.

“Would you please listen to me, dear?” the queen murmured, her voice full of defeat. “I sincerely mean it when I say this is not your fault, no matter how much you may think it is.”

Star squinted, and huffed. “Fine, whatever,” she grumbled.

Moon shifted a little, folding her hands in her lap and staring at her daughter, but not receiving even a glance in return. “I suppose it was time you knew the truth,” she sighed. “In fact, you could say Toffee was my Marco, dear. He was a close friend of mine— very close, we had known each other since we were children, and he nearly became my royal advisor… but he went dark. I thought our friendship would help with Mewman-monster relations. How wrong I was,”

She reached back and unfastened the last tie in her hair, letting the long tresses of periwinkle fall carelessly; in a vain attempt to relax herself. It was almost perplexing to see how common she could look without the fancy dresses and cosmetic touch-ups. Star herself could never see the physical similarities between herself and her mother unless it was a time like this; no royal pressure, just the two of them…

...then again, moments like this were rare.

And this time, the entire dimension was at stake.

“In fact,” Moon sighed, reaching up to rub her temples. “Everything felt like it was going downhill right after I became queen. I was twenty, and had just been married to your father. At first, I thought it was all going to fall into place. But Toffee backstabbed me, and I was young and foolish to keep giving him chances. He had caused a magic explosion at my coronation, which I took the blame for,”

Her voice broke, and she went on regardless.

“My apologies, Star,” Moon mumbled, tears beginning to brim her sky blue eyes once again. “But the beginning of my reign was not easy. Some of my family rejected me, all because I married your father, they didn’t approve of him. And then my oldest friend became my greatest enemy. It’s hard for me to look back on it, let alone speak of.”

“You don’t have to apologize for being upset, Mom,” Star stressed, her own voice wavering. “Everyone gets upset sometimes. I’m actually more worried when you don’t let things bother you.”

Moon glanced at her daughter, with a quaking, bittersweet smile. “Anyhow,” she spluttered out. “I kept thinking, no, not my best friend. Not Toffee. He wasn’t that kind of monster. But,” She inhaled deeply, her hands shaking as she formed them into fists, placing them in her lap. “I caught him corresponding with others. Ones I knew were cruel, who would do anything to destroy Mewni.”

Star swallowed hard. “Is that when—?”

“Oh, no,” Moon shook her head. “I didn’t confront him about it. I simply thought, casting him out of the kingdom would be enough. I figured he wouldn’t come back, a-and I was so wrong.”

“Oh, Mom,” Star muttered, diving in for a hug. The queen didn’t even hesitate, no matter what Butterflys traditionally did, and immediately returned the embrace, holding on to her daughter as tight as she could. “I didn’t know you had to go through all that…”

Moon let out a haughty laugh. “That isn’t even the worst part,” she said. “Because for a little while, everything was alright. A year or two had passed after Toffee left, then you were born, and that’s when. You weren’t even a year old and I had to leave you to go on the frontline of war. That was single-handedly the scariest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.”

They were both crying by now, sitting under the starlight and holding onto each other.

“So that’s why you’ve always wanted me to be the perfect princess, huh?” Star said hoarsely, finally meeting her mother’s weary gaze.

“To an extent,” Moon sighed out a heavy breath. “Yes. That _is_ why.” She held onto her daughter a little tighter before finally letting go, and pulling away. “I’m such a fool,”

Star shook her head rapidly. “What?! Mom, no, you’re not! You’ve been kicking monster butt your whole life, ruling a kingdom, protecting me— that’s not foolish, like, at all! That’s awesome!” She took a moment to stammer and stumble over her words, running a hand through her hair. “So what? You’ve been through a lot. That’s okay, right? W-what matters is you made it!”

For a moment, Moon stopped, finally letting the tears that brimmed her eyes fall. They streamed down her cheeks, the pure pink diamonds stained with the pain of a queen who had been through far too much during her reign. Finally, she glanced at her daughter, taken aback.

“How are you only fourteen and yet, years wiser than me?” she said, with a breathless laugh.

A shrug was the only excuse of a reply at first. “I — I dunno,” Star eventually said, her tone of voice distant.

“I’m so sorry, Star,” Moon stressed. “I should have never kept secrets from you. Toffee coming back for me was always a distant thought in my mind, but I never thought he would stoop so low as to go for you and the ones you care about.”

“No, it’s okay,” Star mumbled. “Really. I get it. You wanted me to be normal, right? That’s why you sent me to Earth.”

“Normal is a strong word,” Moon retorted, taking her daughter’s hand and holding it firmly. “You are a princess of Mewni, a Butterfly descendant. We don’t have the luxury of being normal. But yes, for a little while, I thought going somewhere else would do you some good,”

Star’s smile was shaky. “It did something alright,” she muttered.

Gently brushing strands of gold from her daughter’s face, Moon’s expression was crestfallen. “What Ruberiot sang at your Song Day… a-and the things you were saying when I picked you up, the way you cried when you came back from talking to Marco,” She looked at Star intently, but the princess didn’t return the gaze. “Star, is it true? Do you love him?”

“No!” Star blurted out, turning away, yanking her hand out of her mother’s. “I don’t love anyone! I’m fourteen, I — I’m just being dumb! A-and what does it matter anyway? We have to defeat some crazy lizard guy who hates our family, I don’t have time to worry about some guy!”

Moon frowned. “Star, I know that Marco is far more than just ‘some guy’ to you, he’s your friend,”

Star huffed, hugging her knees to her chest and sniffling. “It doesn’t matter, okay?” she practically shot back. “It’s not like it’s a real problem, like having to be queen someday o-or—”

She let out a slight _oomph_ when her mother wrapped an arm around her, softly shushing her.

“Sweetheart,” Moon said, her voice trembling. “It _does_ matter. You matter, whatever’s going on… you shouldn’t be afraid to tell me about it. Your problems aren’t dumb, they’re perfectly normal, you’re only fourteen,” She pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head, holding back more tears. “I wish you didn’t have to worry about all of this nonsense, and just focus on your magic and becoming queen and whatever other things teens do these days.”

Star continued to cry, burying herself in her mother’s embrace, just like she was a small girl all over again.

“I’m sorry, Mommy, _I’m so sorry_ ,” she sobbed, holding onto Moon tightly— almost enough to the point of a hug that was a little too tight.

Moon hadn’t felt so weak in her entire life. The little girl who would try to steal the royal wand and sit in the throne that she was too small for, now crying in her arms over a boy she clearly loved with all of her heart and blaming herself for a huge stain that had been in their family for quite some time now.

What had happened? How had the years gone by so fast?

“No, no, my sweet girl, please, don’t apologize,” Moon said, in a hushed voice. “Oh, Star. _Darling_ ,”

What would the citizens of Mewni think if they saw their dauntless queen crying, just because her daughter was? She was so soft sometimes, it was almost laughable.

Star sniffled, absentmindedly wiping her nose with the sleeve of her nightgown. “I feel terrible, Mom,” she groaned. “For everything I did, to you and Dad, to Marco, f-for not getting to choose—” She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying to force the tears back in.

“Star,” Moon sighed, simply letting the tears fall, giving in to the circumstances. “Star, listen to me,”

“What?” Star whined.

Moon brushed golden locks out of her daughter’s face, staring at the young girl seriously. “Tell me who you are, Star,” she declared, her voice regaining its proud, regal tone.

Star arched an eyebrow. “I’m Princess Star Butterfly,” she muttered. “Princess of screw-ups.”

“You are no such thing,” Moon practically snapped, holding on her daughter’s shoulders, making Star look at her. “You are kind, and caring, and absolutely lovely. And I am not just saying that because I’m your mother. Because I can also say you often don’t think twice before doing things, you are sometimes too nice for your own good — which you _definitely_ got from me — and you don’t listen to anyone but yourself. But that doesn’t mean I love you any less,”

“So what are you trying to say?” Star mumbled.

“What I’m saying is that you are not the ‘Princess of screw-ups’, as you might think,” Moon said. “You are young, and you deserve to be young. It kills me to tear you away from all of your friends and everything else you love on Earth, but I — I just don’t know what else to do.”

There was a moment of utter, complete and chilling silence. Star wasn’t sure if she had ever seen her mother so broken, so vulnerable and so open like this before. Most of her memories with her mother were just fine; she had been strict but fair. She had always heard from relatives and Mewnian citizens of how compassionate and loving Queen Moon was.

It was a pity that Star never noticed until now.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do either,” she mumbled. “Are we going to be okay?”

Moon stiffened her lip, the night breeze slowly becoming chilly. She shivered, perhaps because of the weather or the unfortunate answer she had to give; “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know, dear. Are you going to be alright, though?”

Star shrugged, and shook her head. “Maybe,” she sighed. “Maybe this is what I need,” Glossaryck’s words had been haunting her ever since she heard them. It wasn’t until recently did she realize how versatile they could be. “Y’know, to figure out what I might be doing when I’m queen, to get away from Earth and… _you know._ ”

“Oh, ‘you know’?” Moon mused. “You mean, Marco?”

“Yeah, him,” Star grumbled. “But it’s whatever,”

Moon knit her brow. “Come now, Star,” she urged. “I’m sure it’s more than just that. Besides, I want us to be a mother and daughter once in a while. Not just a queen and a princess,” She smiled at her daughter, almost sheepishly so. “I’ve sort of been waiting for you to come to me with boy troubles. Or girl. Or … whatever.”

“Boy,” Star muttered. “Definitely a boy.”

“So,” Moon pressed. “You don’t love him, but you certainly like him,” She hummed in thought for a few seconds, before splitting out into a smile. “How many times have you written ‘Mrs. Star and Mr. Marco Butterfly’?”

Star instantly burst out into laughter, blushing and dodging her eyes away from her mother. “Just a few times! I — I burned the piece of paper with my wand, anyway, he never suspected a thing!” She groaned from embarrassment, and squished her own cheeks as she talked. “I can’t like Marco, though! He’s dating Jackie! And she’s super nice too and kinda cool because she puts metal in her ears and rides a skateboard!”

“What is a ‘skateboard’—?” Moon tried to ask, but her daughter cut her off.

“And Marco and I are strictly besties, Mom! So i-it’s weird!” Star went on. “We monster-fight together and eat triangle food and take care of our laser puppies a-and have special Friendship Thursdays! We can’t date!” She heaved out a breath after her mini rant, shoulders slumping in defeat. “Besides, he obviously doesn’t like me back. So it’s just stupid for me to keep thinking about him,”

Moon paused for a moment, to process all of the sudden information, while Star let out one last defeated statement.

“Well, I guess Marco and I _used_ to be besties,” she mumbled.

“How long have you had feelings for him?” Moon spoke up.

Star paused, then shrugged. “Few months, I guess. I always thought he was a nice guy, a-and things just escalated from there,” She sighed, bumping her head against her mother’s shoulder. “I just wanted him to be happy, though. That’s why I told him to go for Jackie. He liked her for _waaay_ longer than he knew me, so I thought, ‘what the heck’?”

Moon exhaled, shaking her head. “Too nice for your own good,” she recalled.

“Yup,” Star replied, glancing up to the starry night sky.

She wasn’t even aware she was crying until she noticed her mother reach out, continuing to brush away whatever stray tears snuck out.

“Please come to me whenever you have something on your mind, dear,” Moon spoke up. “I’m your mother. I love you, and I care about you very much, no matter how many worries are on my mind. You come first, above all. I'm sorry if I don't always let you know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Star sighed. “But even before … this, you and Dad have all this royal junk going on.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Moon assured.

A huffy breath escaped Star and she nodded. “Okay,” she whispered. “I — I mean,” Her voice rose a little, wobbling just a bit. “I guess now I need you more than ever, right? You gotta help me with—” She didn’t want to bring the harsh subject back, not when they finally managed to settle some of the dust. “With everything.”

Running her thumb across her daughter’s cheek, smearing one last tear across the pink heart, Moon had to take a moment before she mustered up a simple reply. “I’m definitely going to help you,” she admitted. “That’s all I can do. Whatever happens, we have to be ready for it.”

A nod was all Star could give before she leaned in for another hug, which her mother gladly returned.

“Mom?”

“Yes, dear? What is it?”

A heavy sigh escaped Star. “I love you,” she said, her words muffled in the hug.

Moon gave a shaky smile that her daughter couldn’t see, and held on a little tighter. “I love you too, Star,”

And though neither the queen or princess noticed, the celestial bodies they were named after suddenly started to shine just a little bit brighter than before.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated! c:


End file.
